Criminal Musings | A Blog by Persia Walker

Another Me?

Persia — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 13:40:48 +0000

Google just gave me my first (hopefully, only shock) of the day. After being email MIA for a day, I checked my account and found one of those trusty Google alerts. How delightful, I thought. Someone, somewhere had mentioned me. More evidence of my burgeoning fame!

But then, I read the message. It was inviting me to connect with myself. Huh?

There was a link; I clicked on it. I expected to be taken to Facebook, and I was, but not to my Facebook page. Instead of seeing me, I found myself looking at someone else.

First reaction: absolute shock. What is this? Who is this?? This intruder, this imposter, this person claiming my name!

For a few seconds there, I sputtered with indignation. Then it hit me. I grabbed my chest in shock. The awful, unassailable truth, it was right there before my eyes! I wasn’t alone in the world. Oh, no, no, NO! There was another Persia Walker!

Another me? Well, not quite. But close enough and so, so … words can’t describe it. Perhaps, for you Jane Does out there, encountering someone else with your name is as common as breathing. But for me, well, it just doesn’t happen. Running into another Persia is unusual enough, but running into one who shares both my first and last name … why it never happens.

Not until today.

As the terrible truth sunk in, my sense of uniqueness was ershüttert.

Then, my resolve hardened. I would take a stand. Obviously, there could be only one Persia Walker in the world, and it was going to be me. I would write her and demand that she do the right thing: change her name. I mean, really, just who did she think she was? I’ve had this name for a long time , (we won’t discuss how long), and have worked hard to build a reputation (we won’t discuss what kind), and I won’t have some little chippee come along and reap the benefits! (What benefits? Don’t ask.).

But then I really took a look at her photo and my heart melted. My goodness, she’s adorable. Cute as a button. Bright and smart and talented and … grrrr! Obviously, just like me. A worthy sharer of my unique appellation.

The voice of maturity spoke up.

Lots of folks around the world share names, don’t they? You’ve simply joined the club. You certainly got to enjoy the privilege (or illusion) of being a one-and-only for quite some time, didn’t you? But now you’ve learned the truth. Deal with it. Adapt. Be strong. Perhaps, this is just the Universe’s way of telling you that it’s time you learn to share your toys–I mean, name.

The Universe talking? Through Google? And Facebook?

They got the job done, didn’t they?

Point taken.

So, being the marvelous, generous, warm-hearted and welcoming person I am, I decided to take the high road. Instead of demanding that she change her name, I sent her a friendship request.

After all, we rarities, we Persia Walkers of the world, should most definitely stick together.

It’s Official! Black Orchid Blues Has Been Sold!

Persia — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:32:03 +0000

Akashic Books, the publisher of such wonderful fiction as Bernice McFadden’s Glorious" target="_blank">Glorious, has done me the honor of picking up Black Orchid Blues. I have my first meeting with publisher Johnny Temple today. Yes!

White Readers, Meet Black Authors: How Women Writers of Color are Read, Received and Reviewed

Persia — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 02:28:30 +0000

A discussion with She Writes Founder Kamy Wicoff and Carleen Brice, who created the tongue-in-cheek video “White Readers, Meet Black Authors.” Carleen Brice is author of the novels Orange Mint and Honey (which was optioned by the Lifetime Movie Network)- a #1 Denver Post best-seller and Essence Magazine Recommended Read – and Children of the Waters, which One World/Ballantine released in June 2009. She also wrote Lead Me Home: An African American’s Guide Through the Grief Journey (HarperCollins), and edited the anthology Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number: Black Women Explore Midlife (Beacon Press, Souvenir Press). Her book Walk Tall: Affirmations for People of Color sold over 100,000 copies and was in print with traditional publishers for 10 years. It is now available from iUniverse.

“Imagine if the Tea Party Was Black” – Tim Wise

Persia — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 15:09:44 +0000

Let’s play a game, shall we? The name of the game is called “Imagine.” The way it’s played is simple: we’ll envision recent happenings in the news, but then change them up a bit. Instead of envisioning white people as the main actors in the scenes we’ll conjure – the ones who are driving the action – we’ll envision black folks or other people of color instead. The object of the game is to imagine the public reaction to the events or incidents, if the main actors were of color, rather than white. Whoever gains the most insight into the workings of race in America, at the end of the game, wins.

So let’s begin.

Imagine that hundreds of black protesters were to descend upon Washington DC and Northern Virginia, just a few miles from the Capitol and White House, armed with AK-47s, assorted handguns, and ammunition. And imagine that some of these protesters —the black protesters — spoke of the need for political revolution, and possibly even armed conflict in the event that laws they didn’t like were enforced by the government? Would these protester — these black protesters with guns — be seen as brave defenders of the Second Amendment, or would they be viewed by most whites as a danger to the republic? What if they were Arab-Americans? Because, after all, that’s what happened recently when white gun enthusiasts descended upon the nation’s capital, arms in hand, and verbally announced their readiness to make war on the country’s political leaders if the need arose.

Imagine that white members of Congress, while walking to work, were surrounded by thousands of angry black people, one of whom proceeded to spit on one of those congressmen for not voting the way the black demonstrators desired. Would the protesters be seen as merely patriotic Americans voicing their opinions, or as an angry, potentially violent, and even insurrectionary mob? After all, this is what white Tea Party protesters did recently in Washington.

Imagine that a rap artist were to say, in reference to a white president: “He’s a piece of shit and I told him to suck on my machine gun.” Because that’s what rocker Ted Nugent said recently about President Obama.

Imagine that a prominent mainstream black political commentator had long employed an overt bigot as Executive Director of his organization, and that this bigot regularly participated in black separatist conferences, and once assaulted a white person while calling them by a racial slur. When that prominent black commentator and his sister — who also works for the organization — defended the bigot as a good guy who was misunderstood and “going through a tough time in his life” would anyone accept their excuse-making? Would that commentator still have a place on a mainstream network? Because that’s what happened in the real world, when Pat Buchanan employed as Executive Director of his group, America’s Cause, a blatant racist who did all these things, or at least their white equivalents: attending white separatist conferences and attacking a black woman while calling her the n-word.

Imagine that a black radio host were to suggest that the only way to get promoted in the administration of a white president is by “hating black people,” or that a prominent white person had only endorsed a white presidential candidate as an act of racial bonding, or blamed a white president for a fight on a school bus in which a black kid was jumped by two white kids, or said that he wouldn’t want to kill all conservatives, but rather, would like to leave just enough—“living fossils” as he called them—“so we will never forget what these people stood for.” After all, these are things that Rush Limbaugh has said, about Barack Obama’s administration, Colin Powell’s endorsement of Barack Obama, a fight on a school bus in Belleville, Illinois in which two black kids beat up a white kid, and about liberals, generally.

Imagine that a black pastor, formerly a member of the U.S. military, were to declare, as part of his opposition to a white president’s policies, that he was ready to “suit up, get my gun, go to Washington, and do what they trained me to do.” This is, after all, what Pastor Stan Craig said recently at a Tea Party rally in Greenville, South Carolina.

Imagine a black radio talk show host gleefully predicting a revolution by people of color if the government continues to be dominated by the rich white men who have been “destroying” the country, or if said radio personality were to call Christians or Jews non-humans, or say that when it came to conservatives, the best solution would be to “hang ‘em high.” And what would happen to any congressional representative who praised that commentator for “speaking common sense” and likened his hate talk to “American values?” After all, those are among the things said by radio host and best-selling author Michael Savage, predicting white revolution in the face of multiculturalism, or said by Savage about Muslims and liberals, respectively. And it was Congressman Culbertson, from Texas, who praised Savage in that way, despite his hateful rhetoric.

Imagine a black political commentator suggesting that the only thing the guy who flew his plane into the Austin, Texas IRS building did wrong was not blowing up Fox News instead. This is, after all, what Anne Coulter said about Tim McVeigh, when she noted that his only mistake was not blowing up the New York Times.

Imagine that a popular black liberal website posted comments about the daughter of a white president, calling her “typical redneck trash,” or a “whore” whose mother entertains her by “making monkey sounds.” After all that’s comparable to what conservatives posted about Malia Obama on freerepublic.com last year, when they referred to her as “ghetto trash.”

Imagine that black protesters at a large political rally were walking around with signs calling for the lynching of their congressional enemies. Because that’s what white conservatives did last year, in reference to Democratic party leaders in Congress.

In other words, imagine that even one-third of the anger and vitriol currently being hurled at President Obama, by folks who are almost exclusively white, were being aimed, instead, at a white president, by people of color. How many whites viewing the anger, the hatred, the contempt for that white president would then wax eloquent about free speech, and the glories of democracy? And how many would be calling for further crackdowns on thuggish behavior, and investigations into the radical agendas of those same people of color?

To ask any of these questions is to answer them. Protest is only seen as fundamentally American when those who have long had the luxury of seeing themselves as prototypically American engage in it. When the dangerous and dark “other” does so, however, it isn’t viewed as normal or natural, let alone patriotic. Which is why Rush Limbaugh could say, this past week, that the Tea Parties are the first time since the Civil War that ordinary, common Americans stood up for their rights: a statement that erases the normalcy and “American-ness” of blacks in the civil rights struggle, not to mention women in the fight for suffrage and equality, working people in the fight for better working conditions, and LGBT folks as they struggle to be treated as full and equal human beings.

And this, my friends, is what white privilege is all about. The ability to threaten others, to engage in violent and incendiary rhetoric without consequence, to be viewed as patriotic and normal no matter what you do, and never to be feared and despised as people of color would be, if they tried to get away with half the shit we do, on a daily basis.

Game Over.

Tim Wise is among the most prominent anti-racist writers and activists in the U.S. Wise has spoken in 48 states, on over 400 college campuses, and to community groups around the nation. Wise has provided anti-racism training to teachers nationwide, and has trained physicians and medical industry professionals on how to combat racial inequities in health care. His latest book is called Between Barack and a Hard Place.

Item reprinted from Ephpthatha Poetry.

Rejection Notes

Persia — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 03:05:18 +0000

Tinkers, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Paul Harding

E.W. Count sent me the heads up on this article in the New York Times, Mr. Cinderella: From Rejection Notes to the Pulitzer, and I was very grateful she did. The timing couldn’t have been better. The story essentially concerns writer Paul Harding and his book, Tinkers, an apparently literary (as opposed to crassly commercial) work about the last days of a dying father, and a work that was turned hands down by every literary agent and major publisher Harding approached. All rejections had nothing to do with his writing. As Harding put it, he was told that no one “wants to read a slow, contemplative, meditative, quiet book.”

Tinkers languished in a drawer for three years before it found a home with Bellevue Literary Press, a tiny upstart that hasn’t been around too long, one that had the insight, the guts and the freedom to publish a piece it loved. Long story short, Tinkers has now won the Pulitzer and is being served up as a source of inspiration to writers who all share one thing in common–rejection, yours truly being one of them.

The last rejection my agent forwarded me was a classic example of a “rave rejection.” The editor loved the writing but saw no place for Black Orchid Blues “on our list.” I admit I was a bit unsettled. OK. More than a bit unsettled. It was clear the editor had really read the manuscript. She picked up all the cultural references (many of which I myself didn’t even recognize until she pointed them out); stated how wonderfully the book was written (“lovely” was the term she used), but ultimately gave a resounding no. “We’d have a hard time finding the right spot for it on our list.”

Hmmm.

You can see why I was unsettled, can’t you? If someone who actually liked the book rejected it, what hope is there?

I sat around in the doldrums for a while about this, and I debated whether to write about it. I mean, who wants to air their “rejections” in public? But … why pretend? I’d rather have my readers think I’m trying to achieve something rather than sitting around on my duff.

What I finally came up with was this: I’ll call it the Curious Case of Mr. Sour and Mr. Sweet.

For a while there, I worked as a real estate agent. I sold townhouses. I did it for four years. In that short time, I came to recognize a pattern.

A potential buyer, let’s call him Mr. Sweet, would come in and just love the place. He would clap his hands with delight. He would dash from room to room, exuding enthusiasm. There was no point in my pointing out the advantages of the place because he saw them on his own, sometimes even pointed out new ones I hadn’t seen myself.

“This is absolutely perfect,” Mr. Sweet would rave. “Lovely, just lovely.”

The first couple of times I encountered a Mr. Sweet, my little heart fluttered with relief and delight. A sale was in the offing! Later, I knew better. This kind of buyer, after gliding through the property, would then glide right out the door, never to be heard from again.

Then there was Mr. Sour. Unlike Mr. Sweet, who dawdled in every room, Mr. Sour moved quickly, and turned his nose up at everything. No matter what I said, he responded with either criticism or indifference.

The Mr. Sours were exhausting. The first time I encountered one, I felt as though I were talking to a wall. But I quickly learned that it was the Mr. Sours who made the deal. Within hours of their leaving, their agents would be in contact with a solid offer.

In retrospect, I think they were critical because they were really thinking about purchasing. They loved the property enough to see its possible limitations, to look beyond them and see what they could do with it; then they had the courage to actually do it.

So I decided not to be upset by the apparent contradiction inherent in “rave rejections.” This last one wasn’t my first and it surely won’t be my last. I’ll take comfort from stories such as Harding’s and keep on writing.

In these times, it’s harder than ever to sell anything. But, as Catherine Maiorisi said, “You only need one to say yes.”

One Writer’s Trajectory — Multiple Rejections, A $1,000 Advance — And Now A Pulitzer And A Guggenheim (trueslant.com)
A Visit With a Surprise Pulitzer Prize Winner (mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com)
A tide of affection for prose that nearly went unpublished (boston.com)
Paul Harding’s ‘Tinkers’: The Surprise Pulitzer Winner (huffingtonpost.com)
Shelf Life (boston.com)

Bouchercon: To Go or Not to Go

Persia — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 19:48:35 +0000

That is the question. Whether to empty my piggy bank down to its last farthing and throw chance to the wind, whether to risk it all for one last big fling, in the far distant yonder, that I must decide.

Hmmm.

B’con will be in San Francisco this year. With bestselling author Lee Child as its person of honor and lots of other interesting authors and agents signed up to go, not to mention the setting itself, I am sorely tempted to indulge.

However …

Allergies

Persia — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 19:30:39 +0000

: Image by Miriam Cardoso de Souza – ” BIENAL PB CXS SUL/2010 via Flickr

Ugg. The air must be full of pollen. Woke up with an aching stuffy head, feeling not good. I guess the allergy season has arrived. Could’ve felt worst, though.

Am ashamed cause it made me short-tempered with my cats. I yelled at Sunday for bugging me about getting her and Mickey P something to eat. I shoved her off the bed twice, but each time she came right back.

I know. Bad mommy! But it was 5 a.m. for goodness sakes!

She kept coming back, so I finally picked her up, tossed her out the door and shut the door behind her. She came again — through a panel in one of the French doors leading to our living room. The whole tossing out, coming back scenario happened twice, with me yelling and raging like a madwoman, before the little furball got the idea and stayed out.

Speak of the devil, the little rascal just came back! Okay, so it’s well into the afternoon now. I did feed her and Mickey P. She’s here begging for lunch. As if I never fed them. Her plump little tummy belies that, however!

So, to relax, I listed to two Yale professors discourse on modern literature and literary theory. Free online or through iTunes University and Academic Earth. Yes, I did this to relax. There’s nothing more relaxing (i.e. yawn inducing) than listening to two professors rattle on and on about some mind-numbing theory concerning books you thought you knew and liked. Worked like a charm. I went right back to sleep.

Talked to writer friend Stan Trybulksi for a couple of hours and that made me feel much better. Stan’s got a new website, done by AuthorBytes, and it’s a beaut. Stan’s a very optimistic and encouraging guy. He’s also prolific. He’s written four novels, all thrillers, and a number of short stories. He is also a great lover of wine and his books reflect that. Check out his blog. He’s just getting it going, so bookmark it, give him about a week and then go back. You’ll enjoy it.